Work It Out
by Bombshell1701
Summary: Post-Captain America/Pre-Avengers. Steve is having a hard time getting back in the world, and even something as simple as working out is fraught with peril! Featuring Agent Sitwell and a cameo from Hawkeye. Feedback is very much appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

**Work It Out**

"How's it going with Rogers?" Agent Barton asked.  
"Slowly but surely" Agent Sitwell responded. "The guy is a fast learner, but he lacks confidence."  
Barton nodded thoughtfully "Can't says I blame him. Technology must seem pretty freakishly advanced to him."  
"Yeah... and the stuff I'm trying to teach him is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg."  
"Man," Barton sighed. "I do _not_ envy him. Or _you_."  
Sitwell smiled.  
"So, Coulson forgiven you yet?" Barton said with a grin.  
Sitwell chuckled "No. Don't think he ever will, either. He was so desperate to do the re-orientation. I thought he was going to cry when they sent him off to babysit Stark and bumped me onto Roger's tech training."  
"Aw, he'll get to play with his hero eventually."  
"Well... that depends. Fury has big plans for the Capt. But we'll have to wait to see if he's really still got it. He's only been up two weeks. He has a long way to go."


	2. Chapter 2

Sitwell entered Steve Rogers' quarters to find the other man pacing in a way that resembled a caged wildcat.  
"You okay, Captain?"  
Steve nodded, but continued pacing, his arms folded across his chest.  
Sitwell felt mildly alarmed. "How did your medical go this morning?" he asked cautiously.  
Steve finally stopped pacing. "It was fine. My test results were good. They were great, actually. Exactly what SHEILD wanted to see." He sighed and looked over at Stillwell. "I'm just wondering why Fury still has me cooped up here. I'm not going to drop dead suddenly. I've got nowhere to run to. Why am I stuck in here?"  
"There are plans in place, in a few months- once you've been brought up to speed- to get you out into an apartment of your own." Sitwell confided.  
Steve shrugged at this information. "So, until then, I'm stuck in this room?"  
"No, I'm pretty sure you're at liberty to wander around this facility. Barring restricted areas, of course."  
Steve gave him a grim smile. "This building is all restricted areas."  
"Why don't you go up to the gym? Blow off some steam."  
"The gym?" Steve wondered.  
Sitwell smiled at his stroke of genius. "Yeah, up on level 24. There's a whole floor of equipment for personnel to use for fitness training. Treadmills, Ellipticals, weight benches and machines."  
"Can I go now?" Steve asked. "We can do the blue teeth stuff later, right?"  
Sitwell smiled, feeling like a parent. "Bluetooth. And sure, we'll do that tomorrow. Do you have sweats you can wear? And shoes?"  
Steve nodded eagerly, and grabbed some clothing from his wardrobe. Within a minute he was dressed in casual exercise gear, and tying up his_ Converse_ sneakers.  
"Grab a towel and some water" Sitwell recommended. Steve did so, looking happier than Sitwell had ever seen in the fortnight he'd been working with the man.


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, if you're going to start training regularly, you're going to need proper gear. I would recommend a compression suit, or at the very least, full length compression tights and a fitted running top or similar. And what on earth are you wearing on your feet?" Nancy the trainer demanded.  
Steve looked incredulously at his shoes. "Converse. I like them."  
"You can't run in those, you'll give yourself shin splints. You need shoes with proper support. I would recommend getting the best kind of cross-trainers you can!" she scolded.  
Steve looked at Sitwell, lost. "I don't know what that stuff is."  
"It's specialised exercise clothing, helps support your body as you train."  
"What's wrong with sweats and a t-shirt?" Steve questioned.  
"We'll get something sent up for you." Sitwell assured him.  
"Follow me, I'll show you around." the trainer said.  
"I'm going to leave you here for a while, but Nancy will look after you. If you need anything, get her to page me back up, okay?"  
Steve nodded, and followed Nancy into the workout area. He noticed the way people were pausing in the middle of their workouts to look at him as he passed; curiosity or delight registering on their faces as they whispered to their training buddies or neighbours. A few of the off-duty agents smiled at him, or nodded. He nodded back, but tried to keep his eyes averted. He just really needed to focus on this.  
"Okay" Nancy said, stopping in front of a machine that looked like something out of photos of the space program he'd read about. "This is an _Elliptical_. It's great for cardio, and your glutes, quads, hammies and calves." She quickly ran through the control panel. Steve tried to focus on what she was saying, but he could feel people's curious eyes on him. His face began to flush and he swallowed nervously.  
"Let's have a look at the stationary kayak" Nancy said suddenly, "That's a favourite of mine. Great for your biceps and triceps."  
Steve trotted obediently after her.

_(later)_

.. .. .. .. ..

Thirty minutes later and Steve had been given the full tour of the gym. His mind boggled at the many and varied machines and pieces of equipment available for exercise. He remembered when a gym was a couple of boxing bags and a bunch of weight benches and different -sized barbells. He was relieved to see a free weights area, but decided to start with some cardio work to wake up his heart and circulation. He wandered back to the _Elliptical_ and climbed up, trying to look like he did this kind of thing every day and knew exactly what he was doing. By this stage, he'd gotten good at ignoring the curious whispering and excited eyes that followed him everywhere. He breathed out slowly, and started punching numbers into the control panel.


	4. Chapter 4

Sitwell walked into absolute bedlam. He'd been gone less than an hour when he got an urgent request to return to the gym. He looked around, utterly puzzled.  
"Did somebody let Bruce Banner loose in here?" he muttered to himself.  
All around him, gym equipment was trashed. An exercise bike lay in pieces like it had spontaneously fallen apart; two treadmills were flayed open, their belts torn from the runners; the arms of an _Elliptica_l had been plucked off and lay at pathetic angles to the bent foot pedals. Free weight plates were scattered from one end of the gym to another like enormous metal confetti. More disturbing was the injured people scattered around the room, being given treatment by SHEILD medics. Clearly none of their injuries were serious, but none of them looked very happy. Nancy was lying on the floor nearby, swearing quietly as a medic bandaged her very swollen ankle.  
And there, in the middle of all this chaos, was Steve. He was blushing bright red, clutching a bar of some kind in his hand.  
Sitwell walked towards him. He stopped suddenly. "Is that the stationary kayak paddle bar?" he asked dully.  
"Uh, it was" Steve said, looking at it. "It... broke off."  
Stilwell nodded and looked around. He chewed his bottom lip as he took it all in. "The treadmills?"  
"I might have got a little carried away... I was running pretty fast, and the belt tore. So as I was falling, well... I fell onto the other one, and the impact tore it up, too."  
Sitwell nodded.  
"The _Elliptical_ I just couldn't get the hang of... I didn't know if I was supposed to be going forward, or up or down. It's just kinda... collapsed. The bike-" he gestured toward the disassembled cycle. "I don't really know what happened. It just... exploded. Nancy tried to catch me, I think, and I fell on her... that's how her ankle got broken."  
Stilwell looked around some more. Steve was still being stared at, but gone were the welcoming expressions; he was now being fixed with some very dark looks. "I'm not even going to ask you how the weights got thrown everywhere."  
"Uh... yeah. That's harder to explain." Steve said quietly.  
Sitwell stared at him.  
Steve stared at the ground. "I'd like to go back to my room now."


	5. Chapter 5

"You're doing very well, Steve. Just remember to go easy on the keyboard; the keys are a lot more sensitive than an old typewriter." Sitwell instructed.  
Steve smiled grimly and gave a curt nod. He powered down the laptop and then closed it.  
"So, uh... do you know how Nancy is? Is she out of traction yet?"  
"A few more weeks" Sitwell said lightly. "I sent her some flowers from you; pink and orange roses, very pretty."  
"Thank you." Steve said quietly.  
The men sat in silence for a moment.  
"So, I have a surprise for you." Sitwell said. "Grab your sweats and sneakers."  
"Uh, no. I don't think that's a good idea." Steve said darkly, flushing.  
"Trust me" Sitwell said kindly.  
Steve frowned at him, but stood up and gathered his gear.

_(later)_  
The men drove through the city in relative silence; Steve spent the entire time staring out the window, mouth agape with shock and wonder at _everything_. He broke the silence as they drove across the Brooklyn Bridge.  
"Kinda' feel like I'm coming home." he craned his neck to look up at the huge concrete pylons as they passed under them, a huge grin on his face.  
"The idea is to move you, eventually, into an apartment in your old neighbourhood." Sitwell explained.  
Steve looked at him, concerned. "My old neighbourhood was kind-of dive. And I'm pretty sure the building I lived in would have been condemned by now. It probably should have been condemned when I lived there." he added thoughtfully.  
Sitwell chuckled. "The area has been considerably re-gentrified since then. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, when I heard that was the plan, I came out here and found this place for you." He pulled up in front of an old, sturdy but ramshackle red brick building at the edge of an industrial area. Steve stepped out of the car and looked around.  
"I know this area, I lived a few blocks that way," he pointed north.  
Sitwell nodded and gestured for him to follow. They came around to the front of the red brick building. In faded, peeling paint across the front was the name _Delaney's Gym_.  
Steve stopped and looked up at it, mouth hanging open in surprise. "This place! This is still here? This was around when I was a kid!"  
Stilwell grinned. "Same family still owns it. Did you used to train here?"  
Steve laughed softly, "No, I didn't need a gym. I used to get beat up for free in the street."  
Sitwell's brow furrowed.  
"That was awhile ago." Steve said casually.  
He and Sitwell walked into the facility. Steve looked around and liked what he saw. No fancy machines. No glaring neon lights. No one in skin-tight black running outfits to stare at him. No sound system blaring repetitive, jarring music; just the _thump-thump_ of someone working on a boxing bag. The place smelled of disinfectant, leather conditioner and sweat. There was a boxing ring in the middle of the space, punching bags hung off to one side, speedballs down one end, and benches and weight stacks down the other in front of a bank of mirrors. The light was warm and bright, the walls decorated with pictures of athletes he didn't know, but they looked old-school. It was a good, simple, honest gym.  
"Like it?" Sitwell asked.  
"Yeah, I do." Steve said, nodding.  
Sitwell reached into his jacket, extracted something, and tossed it to Steve. Steve caught it and looked down at the small package. _Acme Boxing Wraps_. He shot Sitwell a grateful look.  
"Let's get you a membership." Sitwell said.

_Fin_

_Author's Note: Steve in 2010- the possibilities are endless! Thanks to Voiceofdisbelief for looking this over. Disclaimer- these characters are the property of other people, I just like to tell their stories, but I make nothing from it. Feedback is always appreciated, though._


End file.
